Mandate acquires ‘Broken City’

Spec screenplay is Brian Tucker's first

Mandate Pictures has preemptively bought “Broken City,” the first screenplay from Brian Tucker.

Set against the backdrop of contemporary New York, story centers a former cop-turned-P.I., who, while attempting to turn his life around, finds himself thrust in the middle of the seedy backroom politics of a corrupt mayoral election.

Mandate is aiming to attach a director and cast in the summer.

Tucker is an alum of the Juilliard School Playwrights Program, where he was a Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Fellow.

Mandate’s recent credits include “Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay” and “Juno.” The company is currently in production on “Peacock” with Cillian Murphy, Ellen Page and Susan Sarandon; and “Drag Me to Hell,” via its partnership with Ghost House Pictures.